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, a ''Gato''-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for a whale, an extremely large, aquatic mammal that is fishlike in form. The USS Cachalot (SS-170)(Cachalot, another name for a Sperm Whale)commissioned on 1 December 1933 preceded the Whale. Her keel was laid down on 28 June 1941 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo, California. She was launched on 14 March 1942 (sponsored by Mrs. A. D. Denny, wife of Captain A. D. Denny, the commanding officer of the shipyard), and commissioned on 1 June 1942, with Lieutenant Commander (Lt. Cmdr.) John B. Azer (Class of 1930) in command. Dock trials and initial shakedown training commenced on 30 July. The submarine—escorted by destroyer —departed San Francisco, California, on 4 August and arrived at San Diego, California, two days later. Between 30 July and 9 September, she conducted type training in the San Diego and San Francisco areas. ==First war patrol, October – November 1942== ''Whale'' got underway from San Francisco on 23 September and arrived at Pearl Harbor four days later. The submarine departed Hawaii on 9 October 1942, headed via Midway Island for "Empire waters" (the seas surrounding Japan), and conducted training dives and battle surface drills ''en route''. She arrived at her assigned patrol area off Kii Suido on 25 October and began to reconnoiter the vicinity which had been designated for a naval minefield. Her original plans had called for the submarine to lay mines offshore. However, after sighting several outbound freighters about from the coast, executive officer Frederick "Fritz" Harlfinger II (who later commanded convinced Azer that the mines be planted as close in as possible. Hence ''Whale's'' first war patrol was conducted "within spitting distance" of the Japanese beach. ''Whale'' was the first American submarine to plant mines in Empire waters. During the war, no one on the American side knew how effective these mines proved to be, but a postwar analysis of Japanese shipping records credited ''Whale's'' minefield with sinking five enemy ships. The following day, ''Whale'' arrived at Seto Saki hoping to intercept some inbound freighter traffic. By the light of a full moon, she sighted a large freighter directly ahead and fired a three-torpedo spread at the target. Two torpedoes hit the cargo ship, and she went down by the bow with her screws in the air. ''Whale'' sighted a second target astern of the freighter, launched three torpedoes, and observed that target listing slightly to port and heading for the beach. ''Whale'' fired a stern shot at a third freighter and heard a heavy torpedo explosion after 43 seconds. From 27–29 October, ''Whale'' patrolled the entrance to Bungo Suido. On 30 October, while off Ichie Saki, ''Whale'' spotted two freighters and a torpedo boat as escort; she launched two torpedoes at each of the ships, but scored only one hit. The torpedoes alerted the escort which bore down on the submarine and attacked her with depth charges. A 17-hour chase ensued in which ''Whale'' was badly damaged yet managed to shake the torpedo boat three times. After an unsuccessful search for a disabled sampan, ''Whale'' made rendezvous with an escort and proceeded to Pearl Harbor where she underwent repairs from 10 November 1942 through 2 January 1943. The next day, ''Whale'' got underway from the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor, bound for the Marshall Islands. After conducting training dives and drills en route, she arrived in the Wotje and Kwajalein area on 10 January for two days' patrol off those atolls. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Whale (SS-239)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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